Hanyou Kagome:The Reversal of Inuyasha
by EternalLove
Summary: Sesshoumaru is the man from the future who encounters the hanyou Kagome and both must swallow their pride as they depend on each other to find the broken Shikon. It's a reversal of characters and while some things are different, some things never change
1. The Sealed Away Girl

This is a totally new approach I'm taking to Inuyasha. The idea just came to me all of a sudden right before I fell asleep, kind of weird huh? I have never read a story that had this kind of plot so I'm hoping I'm not ripping anybody off. If I am, I'm very sorry but I'm still writing this story no matter what. So enjoy! (oh, and a quick note, in this story miko's can be guys and they age very very slowly)  
  
Chapter 1: The Sealed Away Girl

* * *

THUD  
  
Her azure eyes snapped wide open at the pain as a small purple jewel fell to the dirt. She peered down at the arrow embedded in her heart and gently touched the fletching at the end with clawed fingers.  
  
"Kagome!" a harsh voice rang out in the clearing.  
  
She looked up to see a young man in a red hakama and gi. Silver hair was pulled back in a rough tail which showed the strong planes of a handsome face. A long bow in his callused hand revealed that it had been he who had loosed the arrow. He limped closer to her and she smelled blood in the wind that coursed through the trees around them, creating a sound similar to wailing. A trail of blood drops showed that he had walked all the way from the village.  
  
"Teme!! I should have never trusted you!!! Because of your greed, you will lay dead on that tree till the end of time!" he shouted, animosity showing in every line of his body. His angry  
cursing was the last thing she heard before she dropped into the sleep he had ordained. The man picked up the jewel that sat on the ground and closed a tight fist around it. He grimaced  
at the deep cuts in his back and tears began to fall from his golden eyes. It wasn't the pain that he was crying for , no, pain he could withstand. It was the death of his only brother that  
those droplets of salt and sorrow fell. The brother who had died in the hands of that despicable hanyou who stood just before him. He cursed her one more time before slowly  
limping back to the village.  
  
He hefted his heavy bag over his shoulders and stepped out into the morning sun in jeans and  
a long black coat. The air was crisp with the scent of falling leaves and the coming of fall's cold  
breath. As he walked into the shrine's courtyard he noticed a small figure crouching before an  
old door that led into the ancient well shrine. He gave a sigh and walked over to the sniffling  
child that looked forlornly into the darkness of the small building.  
  
"Rin, you shouldn't play in the hokora." he said as he stepped behind her. A small girl of 8  
tipped her head up to look at her tall brother. Tears stained large brown eyes that begged for help.  
  
"But Sesshoumaru...Buyo..." she pointed down towards the steps. He gave a sigh and clomped down the stairs in his sneakers. A meow gave away Buyo's hiding place and he picked up the chubby feline with a hand. When he turned to look at Rin she looked past him in surprise and there was the crashing sound of broken wood.  
  
"Rin? What is it-"  
  
Before he could finish hands grabbed his shoulders and Buyo dropped to the ground as he  
was pulled back into the well. A strange blue light surrounded him and there was the odd  
feeling in his stomach of floating. A woman with a long set of rib-cages stared down at him  
and began to lick his cheek with her tongue.  
  
"How wonderful...my powers are coming back. You.....you have it, don't you?"  
  
"Let go of me!" he demanded, completely disgusted with this monster of a woman. He pushed  
her away with a hand and something shot out of his palm, tearing off one of the woman's  
numerous hands.  
  
"Da..mn...you. I won't let you go......Shikon no Tama!!!"  
  
He hit the ground lightly and was on his hands and knees. What the hell was that?? He  
looked up to see not the ceiling of the wellhouse but sunlight? He picked himself up when something fell to the floor with a plop. He looked down to see the monster woman's arm  
laying down, the fingers slightly moving. He desperately looked around the well for a way out and spotted long vines growing up to the well's opening. When he finally made it to the top his  
mouth dropped open from the sight. A lush forest surrounded the well and all manner of  
wildlife was everywhere.  
  
"Rin?" he murmured as he observed the forest all around. What had happened? Where was the shrine? Where was the city? Did he hit his head? Maybe he was dreaming? He gave a sigh of relief as he spotted Goshinboku, the Sacred Tree. He pushed through bushes and stepped over tall plants as he made his way to the familiar landmark. But when he pushed his way  
through the last bush he stopped in his tracks.

What he saw was not his home but a girl that was held to a tree by large roots. Her delicate head was tipped to the side as if she was merely asleep and her clothes were of the style worn five hundred years ago. The kimono was a brilliant blue and she wore white pants underneath but both articles of clothing looked a bit worn. He climbed up the roots to have a better look at the first human life he had seen so far. Then his quick eyes caught sight of two black furred ears in a sea of ebony black hair. He was about to touch them to see if they were real when arrows thudded near his head and he turned around to see a group of men dressed in more old style clothing. All had bows in their hands and had arrows ready to fly.  
  
"Who are you? And are you from a foreign province?" one of them said. He was about to ask them if they were actors when the group of men moved aside to let someone through.

This man appeared to be the leader but was quite young for such a position. He had to be around 18 years old and was wearing all red. What was really strange was that this stranger had the same golden eyes and silver hair as himself, a trait that he had never seen in anybody else. The leader must have noticed this because his eyes grew wide.  
  
"Who are you? Are you a youkai?" he asked.  
  
"A youkai? Have you gone crazy?" Sesshoumaru said, starting to get annoyed. First they shot arrows at him and now this boy was accusing him of being a demon???  
  
"Tie him up and take him to the village." the stranger turned around and began to leave as the men circled around him with rope. After much struggling and threatening, the men managed to tie him up and pushed him down a beaten path with a spear jabbing into his back. Sesshoumaru took one last glance at the sleeping girl before another push sent him stumbling. The village was in view within seconds. There was no city, no buildings, absolutely nothing of Tokyo. Cooking fires made tiny spirals in the air while woman and men alike stared at him while he walked by. They finally stopped in front of an old hut and pushed him inside where the leader sat waiting.  
  
"What is the meaning of this? I could have you in court for this kind of act." he hissed as the stranger scrutinized him carefully.  
  
"What were you doing in Kagome Forest? And why are you dressed....so strangely? And why do you look like my dead brother?" the stranger demanded.

* * *

Night fell fast in this country. A fire crackled nearby as Sesshoumaru looked outside the tiny  
window. The past, somehow, in some impossible way, he had landed in the past. It was  
Sengoku Jidai, the feudal war era, that was the time now, five hundred years shy from the  
future he had come from. Both the men couldn't believe each other, that one was from the  
future and that the other had come to the past.  
  
"He died 50 years ago by the hands of someone I knew." the boy poked at the fire with a metal rod as a soup bubbled merrily.  
  
"50?" Sesshoumaru remarked. "How could you know your brother 50 years ago when you're so young now?"  
  
"Are you sure you're from the future? Did you have a fall and hit your head?" the boy asked from across the fire, eyes narrowed in disbelief.  
  
"I'm VERY sure I did not hit my head. This strange centipede-like woman grabbed me and then I was here. Shortly after, your 'men' shot dangerous weapons at my head which could have resulted in my untimely death." Sesshoumaru said slowly in an accusatory tone. The boy ignored his comments.  
  
"I think you might be the reincarnation of my brother. But if that's true, then that means-"

There was a huge crashing and the boy sat up, cursing at himself as he grabbed the bow that stood nearby. Shouts rang out and several men burst into the hut.  
  
"Inuyasha-sama!"  
  
"I know I know, gather up the men and get as many weapons as you can. Bows, spears, anything!" he ordered and followed the men outside.  
  
"Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru murmured to himself as he followed them as well, an odd name. The centipede-woman from before stood in front of them, over a hunded feet tall. She spotted Sesshoumaru quickly and gave a smile that showed off razor sharp teeth.  
  
"You! Hand over the Shikon no Tama!" she said and started to duck down towards him. He got out of the way just in time and dodged to the side. Damn it, she's targeting me! He began to run, hoping to draw the woman away from the villagers. His legs pumped to their maximum speed as the monster followed right behind him. Just as she was about to strike he dove into the forest and missed her attack by inches. He hurriedly stood up to see himself in the clearing with the sleeping girl. Only she was awake.  
  
"Inu....yasha?" she blearily said, her thick lashed eyes still half asleep. Then they snapped open and he noticed how blue her eyes were for the first time. Almost the same color as her kimono.  
  
"You bastard!!" she choked out, struggling to get free of her bonds. "Inuyasha, you bastard!! I hope that centipede woman kills you!"  
  
"What are you talking about? I'm not Inuyasha!" he argued back.  
  
"Yes you are, nobody else smells just like....you?" her nose wiggled as she breathed in.  
  
"You're...not Inuyasha?" she asked weakly, the fury gone from her voice.  
  
"No, I'm not. My name is Sesshoumaru. Sessh-ou-ma-ru. Got it?"  
  
Before she could answer the clearing exploded in a cloud of dirt and leaves as the centipede woman burst in. She slashed at Sesshoumaru's waist with an enraged scream. Blood shot out  
in a short burst as he grabbed his side. Then suddenly he felt a small ball coming out from the  
wound. As the red liquid dripped off he held the ball in front of his eyes. It was a purplish  
jewel that sparkled even in the darkness of the night.  
  
"Shikon....no Tama!!!!" the centipede woman screamed and swiped at him again. He ducked  
just as the villagers arrived and shot at the woman. The roped arrows caught her and they  
began to pull her towards the well.  
  
"Give me the jewel!" the girl shouted from behind him.  
  
The woman whirled her head to the new voice and began to chuckle while pulling away from the villagers.  
  
"Khe he he, I've heard that some half-youkai brat called Kagome or something was after the Shikon no Tama. Is that you?" she asked.  
  
"Don't take me lightly, you centipede wench. When I fight, a small fry like you has no chance against me." the girl said while grinning confidently.  
  
"Oh? We'll see when I take-this!" the woman snapped the ropes and whipped her tail around Sesshoumaru and the tree the girl was tied against. He slammed against the girl's chest and  
the woman picked the fallen jewel up with her tongue, swallowing it. Sharp laughs echoed in  
the clearing as the centipede woman's skin fell off to reveal dark black skin underneath. Her  
eyes grew red and bulbous, teeth growing larger and sharper. Her tail squeezed tighter and  
Sesshoumaru could feel his breath lessening.  
  
"Hey." the girl said, he looked up at her.  
  
"This arrow....can you get it out?" she didn't take her eyes off the shapechanging monster.  
  
"What?" he gasped as he could feel himself blacking out.  
  
"If that thing completely absorbs Shikon no Tama then it's the end. Unless you have plans on dying here-"

Images flashed in his mind, short memories of practicing in the dojo and playing with Rin. Rin, he had forgotten all about her. He couldn't die here, who would take care of her? He slowly raised his arm and grasped the arrow. There was no way he was going to die here. The arrow disappeared under his touch in a glitter of magic. And the clearing exploded for the second time, only with chunks of the centipede woman's body. The girl stood there, glowing from her own magic and reveling in her freedom. Claws glittered from her pale hands as she walked to him. She stuck out a hand and he took it, pulling himself up. She was about to say something when she froze and looked past him. He turned around to see what it was and saw the leader boy frozen in his tracks as well.  
  
"Inuyasha." she whispered.  
  
"Kagome." he whispered back.

* * *

Teme-why you!! (usually used in anger or annoyance) hokora-small shrine  
  
So everybody's role has reversed. But don't worry, not everything has changed. I'll probably have Sesshoumaru meeting people the same way Kagome has in the anime. I might have to reread this chapter and change a few things later, but how do you like it? 


	2. Futile Attempts

Futile Attempts

* * *

She took a step forward, as if unsure of the sight before her eyes. Then in a blurry movement she was suddenly in front of Inuyasha, his neck in her hand. At the same time Inuyasha took out a small dagger and rested it against her heart without a blink.  
  
"First an arrow, now a dagger Kagome?" he asked her icily.  
  
"You bastard...I would have never done it, and you know that. It wasn't ME." she said desperately, a teardrop falling from her eye. He didn't move the dagger away and only pressed a little harder, his eyes getting colder.  
  
"Do you know how many people I had to bury that day? Do you know who I had to bury? I saw you with my own eyes, Kagome, and they never lie. Now let go, or you will go to sleep for a second time." he emphasized with a sharp push of his blade. It broke through the fabric and punctured the skin, making blood stain the cloth. She slowly released her hold on his neck and took a step back.  
  
"Do you hate me so much, Inuyasha?" she asked in a soft tone and disappeared into the forest. The villagers gave a sigh of relief but still warily looked around them. Inuyasha stood there, looking down at the dagger stained with a bit of red. His hands were trembling and amber eyes looked distant, as if he was remembering something. Sesshoumaru saw something glitter in the corner of his eye and spotted the jewel in a hunk of centipede flesh. When he picked it out with two fingers the flesh disintegrated nto dust. The jewel flared when he held it then returned to a normal purple hue.  
  
"I suspected it, but now I know for sure who you are." Inuyasha said, wiping the dagger on the ground and slipping it back into his gi. All reminiscing vanished and was replaced by a strange mask of concentration.  
  
"Who was she? That Kagome?" Sesshoumaru asked, ignoring Inuyasha's comment.  
  
"Don't, don't say her name in my presence. If I ever see her again, I will have to put her to sleep again, whether it is in a spell or death." Inuyasha motioned the men to throw the bones into the well and they began to hustle about in normal routine. He hopped onto a horse and whistled another one nearby, handing it's reins to Sesshoumaru.  
  
"You know how to ride, right? Do they have riding in that world of yours?" he asked curiously as he led the horse towards the village. Sesshoumaru easily leaped onto the horse's back and with the perfect posture of a equestrian, began to canter along Inuyasha's horse.  
  
"She killed someone important." the sentence came out more of a statement then a question. Inuyasha's shoulders arched up and the horse shook it's head from the tense rider but trotted on as if it was use to it.  
  
"And many others. We'll talk more tomorrow, when there is daylight. I'm sure you are tired from your...journey to here." he politely said while silently gritting his teeth.

Why now, when he had just gotten over the massacre fifty years ago? Why was she awake? She looked just as he had remembered, those ocean blue eyes with hair that reflected the colors of night. He gripped his reins and looked behind him, his brother's reincarnation. Was this how his brother would have looked like if he had lived? The eyes and hair were the only characteristics that he remembered of his brother. That....that contemptible hanyou, it was all her fault. He could never forgive her for what she did, despite what they shared back then. And now the Shikon was back again, to wreck havoc on mankind. The future did not look optimistic for him, not if the Shikon existed.

* * *

She ran through the forest, every piece of it unfamiliar because of time. Scents of age and anger now permeated the once peaceful place she had lived in. Finally, she stopped her wild running and dropped to her knees, overwhelming grief forcing her down. She squeezed her hands and slumped tired shoulders, a trembling breath that shook her chest in pain. One tear was all she allowed herself, she wasn't going to cry for him. Three months of friendship had been thrown down in one day. The worst part of it all was that he had believed his eyes over his own trust of her.

How could he think she had done it?

Her chest clenched, aching to cry, to bring the tears that would soothe away all hate. But she wouldn't let herself cry away the malice, she needed it. It was all she had right now and the only thing to remind her of Inuyasha's betrayal. She looked up, the Shikon. Gods, how did she forget about it? That strange man who looked like Inuyasha... there was only one other person she knew who had silver hair and golden eyes, and that person was dead. How did he come upon Shikon? Or more importantly, why was the Shikon inside his body?

She took one last deep breath and stood up. She'd take the Shikon and run, never coming back here again. She'd leave every memory and bury it in the village that had caused so much anguish. The girl shivered and wrapped her thin arms around her shoulders. It seemed that it had gotten colder in the past fifty years.

* * *

His body ached at the wooden floorboards but he was too proud to complain. He did however allow himself contemplate on his bed back home. Rin...Jaken would take care of her, but just enough so that she would barely live. That incompetent fool would probably just give her a bowl of rice for the day. He tried to give himself to the rhythmic breathing of the leader boy who slept just a few feet away from him. But it was a hopeless cause, sleep wouldn't come, not while he was in such an unfamiliar place.

As silent as a shadow he crept outside the doorway and stood with his hands in his pockets. Fingers wrapped around the tiny orb that gave off so much power. It's strange warmth was comforting through the biting chill of the night and through his own restless thoughts. Thoughts of how that jewel was in his body in the first place. There was a tiny crack of a leaf far off and Sesshoumaru took a step forward. Someone was near, someone small and stealthy. He moved closer to the forest that bordered the village, body tense for fight. And then she stepped out, bold and daring. There were muscles in her body that could never been seen in humans for she moved like the liquid grace of a panther.  
  
"Good, you made my job a lot easier." she spoke, so softly that he could barely hear the  
words. "The Shikon, you have it, I want it."  
  
"I don't know if you deserve it." He answered, his body still waiting for a fight. He didn't  
take over a decade of different martial arts for nothing. She gave a tired look to him.  
  
"I don't know who you are but you probably don't know the full extent of the Shikon's powers. I do, so give it to me or I might use force." She was about to say more but the two little ears on her head swiveled towards the hut. In a lightning quick movement she grabbed him, putting a hand over his mouth, and swiftly bore him away into the forest. He didn't know how she was able to even hold him with her small arms, nor how she was able to run easily without any hindrance despite the weight she held. After ten minutes of sprinting, she finally stopped and released him. Other than slightly quicker breathing, she looked like she had only gone on a leisurely run.  
  
"If you give me the Shikon, I'll take you back to the village." She repeated her demand again.  
  
"It was in me for a reason and it will not leave my hands." Sesshoumaru dusted off bits of leaves and bush that had stuck to his black coat.  
  
"Don't you understand human? You won't be able to use it at all and you don't have any need for it." She said, walking around him like a frustrated hawk.  
  
"Why do you want it so badly?" He asked while watching her walk back and forth.  
  
"You wouldn't understand." She muttered to him. She stopped her aimless walking and her ears swiveled back and forth. She reminded him oddly of a predator stopping and listening for intruders. She grabbed his hand and began to run quickly through the forest, pulling him at a speed that his legs couldn't give. There was a loud whistling sound in the air and little bolts of lightning were being aimed at Kagome's neck. She stopped and tried to bat the bolts away but they connected to create a glowing necklace. When the lightning stopped and the whistling died down, the necklace revealed to be a rosary. Inuyasha appeared out of nowhere as Kagome strugged to get the necklace off, but it glowed brightly and made the whistling sound from before.  
  
"Inuyasha! What-is-this?!" Kagome growled as she stopped her futile attempts.  
  
"Say the subduing spell." Inuyasha ordered to Sesshoumaru as he watched Kagome with careful eyes.  
  
"Subduing spell?" Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome ears and a small idea planted in his head. "Like....sit?"  
  
WHAM  
  
Kagome had been smashed to the ground, creating a shallow girl sized hole in the ground. She began to cough up dirt that had gotten into her mouth. She punched the earth in anger and looked up at the two men with burning eyes that were tinged red. Her effort to appear frightening was dulled by the fact that dirt smudged her cheeks and her hair was tangled and messy.

"What the hell was that?!!!" She shouted.  
  
"Sit." Sesshoumaru said with an invisible smile. It was an exhilarating feeling of power whenever he said that word. But he felt almost sorry for the girl as she proceeded to cough up more dust and dirt.

* * *

The water was icy cold. No, scrub that. It was the kind of cold that took your breath away and create uncomfortable shivers all across your skin. But there was absolutely no way he was going for three days without a bath or a shower. He looked dismally at the lake's unheated waters, desperate times call for desperate measures. Inuyasha was a few feet away with his back turned, stroking a blazing fire.  
  
"Don't you have any hot springs in this time?" Sesshoumaru asked as he looked almost reluctantly at the freezing water.  
  
"Not if you want to trek to the next village, which is a two hour walk from here." Inuyasha called out, adding more logs to the fire.  
  
He dove into the water after hearing the word 'not' come out of Inuyasha's mouth. It took all of his years of hard training to not run back to the fire and warm up. Forcing himself to wash his hair with tough soap, Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth and tried to do it as fast as he could. He took the fastest bath in his life and was walking out of the water when he noticed a certain hanyou sitting on top of a grassy bank just above the lake's cliff walls. They stared at each other for a moment before she turned away with a blushing face. He gave a smirk at her reaction.

Inuyasha handed him a white bundle of clothes without looking at him and went back to the robot like motions of stroking the fire. The clothes he had given Sesshoumaru were made of an incredibly fine silk. It was a kimono with red borders of tiny white flowers on the collar and the sleeves. For some reason, Inuyasha had also included armor in the bundle. It was heavy, though not so much that it was difficult to walk. It was actually quite comfortable and this was all belted with a long yellow and purple sash. When he sat across Inuyasha from the fire, the boy gave him a strange look before giving a grunt of approval.  
  
"You don't look so much of a foreigner anymore." Inuyasha admitted. "I have a request to make.

"A request?" Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Alright, maybe it's not a request. I need you to-"  
  
There was an explosion of trees as an immense demon crashed through them. He was a hulking thirty feet tall and was a large toad-like creature, remind him eerily of Jaken.  
  
"Shikon!!" It gave a joyous shout and began to run to Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha picked up the bow and quiver right next to him and calmly took aim at the youkai's heart. He let it loose but it was deflected off of the demon's tough leathery skin. It didn't slow down the youkai one bit, making it run only faster towards it's goal.  
  
"Where's the Shikon?!!!!" Inuyasha yelled at Sesshoumaru, pulling him behind.  
  
"In my-"  
  
CRUNCH  
  
The toad looked down at his feet then lifted it up and a second explosion shook the land. Bright purple streaks sped off in hundreds of different directions and the toad cowered away, falling on it's rear. After a minute or so, the streaks faded away and the sky returned to it's normal blue color.  
  
"Pants." Sesshoumaru finished weakily, looking at where the toad at stepped. His clothes were cemented in an imprint of the toad's webbed feet. The toad blankily stared at the ground for a moment then stood up and began to lumber towards Sesshoumaru again.  
  
"Give me the Shik-whaddya want shorty?" The toad stopped to look down at Kagome who was standing before him. "Hey, ain't you the little hanyou shrimp-"  
  
The toad didn't finish his sentence, the 'hanyou shrimp' had taken out her claws and ripped him into ribbons. She stood there with an annoyed face as hands flexed and unflexed in irritation.  
  
"I HATE it when they underestimate me." She grumbled. "Hey, human, is the Shikon safe?"  
  
Sesshoumaru felt something prickle his senses and his quick eyes caught sight of something glittering on the ground. He picked up a tiny glass shard that glowed the same purple as the Shikon. Kagome and Inuyasha leaned closer to see the object in his palm. They both said the same thing when they realized what it was.  
  
"Oh crap."  
  
Ditto.

* * *

I know that pretty much everybody is familiar with the first twenty or so episodes, which was why I changed some things around. For one thing, I find Sess a bit too manly to use a bow to hit the Shikon. Two, aw... I couldn't put the entire Shikon incident to blame on him. It was that stupid toad too. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chappie! and for those who are reading my other stories, I've updated all of them as well. unfortunately, I had to take off Trial of the Shikon Guardians because I lost my interest in that story. I thought the plot itself was unique, but I just couldn't think of anyway to get it starting again. Someone else could use the storyline if they want to, I don't mind. But I know I can't think of anything for the story. 


	3. Aristocratic Woman: Kikyo

Author's Notes: I'm back! Well, more or less. I've been bogged down with ap tests, star tests, sat tests, gah, just tests tests tests in general. But the year is almost over so hopefully I'll finally get more time to work on my writing. I had to put it on hold for a while because of how busy school was making me (I missed writing!!)  
  
Chapter 3: Aristocratic Woman: Kikyo  


* * *

They both looked dismally at the ground as Sesshoumaru stared at the shard in his hand. The information was still running through their heads, but the shock was too great. The great Shikon had been shattered. How could the most powerful jewel on the earth be shattered by such a simple act? Inuyasha was the first one to speak up after a long period of tense silence.  
  
"We'll have to collect it." He said slowly. "Ever single one of them."  
  
"Even one Shikon will have an incredible amount of power." Kagome added. "If it's scattered everywhere....only kami knows how long it will take to find them all. Damn it!" She swore, kicking a large rock near her feet and making it crumble into dust. She ran her fingers through her hair in an agitated motion.  
  
"Which is why you must start right away, time is already wasting." Inuyasha looked intensely at Sesshoumaru. "You have everything you need right now?" Sesshoumaru gave a nod. "Fine, leave then, and if she gives you any trouble," Inuyasha moved his intense look to Kagome. "Use the necklace."  
  
"You won't be coming?" She blurted out in the midst of her rock smashing. The man merely turned his body and slowly walked back to the village with slightly slumped shoulders, another burden laid upon many others. The two remaining watched each other like predators until the hanyou gave a sigh.  
  
"Come on, time is not in our hands. Although I don't know why you have to come with me, you'll only slow me down." She complained as she hopped from one boulder to another. "And I can't believe you allowed the Shikon to be broken!" She stopped her rabbit-like hopping to give a small wince. "Sorry... I know it's not entirely your fault but-are you aware of how powerful the Shikon is?" She turned around and waited for him to catch up. "And we don't even know where to look!" She threw her hands up for emphasis. "Well?" She stared at him, waiting for a reaction. He gracefully stepped over the rocks and walked past her.  
  
"Why should it matter, you'll be fighting most of them yourself." He said flatly as the two began to walk under the shadowy canopy of the forest. Kagome gave a sigh and tucked her hands into the billowy sleeves of her kimono.  
  
"You don't understand the greed of the youkai, it surpasses any hunger or desire they possess within. And one shard can bestow so much power. Arrggh!" She rapped her head with her knuckles. "How the hell am I suppose to beat them all? I had a hard enough time trying to survive on my own, and now I got a puny, weak, useless human to protect too."  
  
"If you think it's so impossible then I'll do it myself." Sesshoumaru stated as they found a worn dirt road heading west. She tucked her hands back into her sleeves and took a deep breath.  
  
"I can't, I need the Shikon. And if you get killed, I'll have that stain on my conscience." She gave a huff. "Besides, how would you be able to survive without me? All those youkai would be on you in a second if I'm not around."  
  
"Are you always this arrogant?" He asked and she abruptly stopped before speed walking to catch up to his long strides.  
  
"I'm not arrogant, I'm youkai." She explained, making it sound like it was the answer to everything.  
  
"And what is that suppose to mean?" He asked.  
  
"It's called pride, not arrogance. Only humans are arrogant because they have to hide their own fallacies." She quoted.  
  
"So you really believe humans to be utterly useless?" He asked as they walked on the empty road. The blue sky was unbelievably clear in this era as there were no toxic emissions to blur out the sky. Nothing but clean untainted air, yet the silence was eerie in its emptiness.  
  
"I think the majority of them are, not all. It was my half sister who said that." She said sullenly. "If you ever see a haughty woman who looks almost exactly like me, run the other direction, fast."  
  
She stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air, her delicate nose moving up and down. She turned around and rammed into Sesshoumaru. A cloud of dust hovered above them and Sesshoumaru gave a cough as some of it settled into his throat. He looked up to see nothing.  
  
"What was that for?" He asked angrily as he tried to get up. Kagome stopped him a hand as her eyes concentrated on something a few inches above his head.  
  
"There." She pointed. He looked up to once again see nothing.  
  
"There's nothing there." He said flatly.  
  
"No, you idiot, look harder." She said as her finger moved closer. She gave a wince and lowered her finger for him to see a small drop of blood starting to slide down her skin. He quickly looked up, concentrating hard on where her finger had been pointing. Suddenly he could see it now, as clear as daylight. There was a thin strand of...was it hair? It was extremely taut and he moved his own hand toward it. Kagome grabbed his hand before he could touch it.  
  
"Baka, what are you doing touching it? We already know it's sharp-"  
  
Something caught his eye and this time he was the one who rammed into her, shoving her away.  
  
"Oy! Don't get so sore over being called a baka!" She bellowed as she got up sneezing. "You're too sensitive."  
  
He gave a sigh, rolled his eyes, and pointed toward the second string of hair that had mysteriously appeared. He blinked his eyes once and suddenly saw a mass of hair blocking the road, stretching from one grove of trees to the other. There was a snicker and a buxom young woman appeared, balancing on the tangle of hair obstructing the road. She wore a skin tight kimono that was only a few inches down from her hips and a short sword tied around with silk string.  
  
"Isn't this cute? A hanyou and a human traveling together. Hmm," The woman gracefully jumped off the string and landed in front of Sesshoumaru. He didn't move as she inspected every inch of his body. "But you, you are a fine specimen for being one of those cursed humans. And such beautiful hair." She fingered a few of his silvers. "Every strand is so perfect."  
  
"Ahem." Kagome said indignantly from behind. The woman turned to look at her and gave a sniff while giving a similar inspection to Kagome.  
  
"I knew hanyous were weak, but I never expected to meet one as scrawny as you. Your human looks more youkai that you do."  
  
Kagome bristled and her hands clenched tight. The woman raised an eyebrow as a hazy glow began to shimmer around the girl's form.  
  
"Hasn't anyone taught you that you should never underestimate your enemy?" Kagome said coolly.  
  
"Oh? So the puny hanyou does have some power? Come girl, I'll slaughter you before I take your sumptuous human and his shikon shard away. I haven't had good entertainment for decades." A red comb appeared in her hand and with a swift slash hair flew from the comb's thin teeth to the girl. She nimbly jumped out of the way and launched herself at the woman who jumped up to the string hanging above her head. In a blurry movement, the woman appeared behind Kagome and grabbed her raven locks, pulling the girl close.  
  
"Remember the last name you'll ever hear, little hanyou. Yura." The woman whispered as she slipped her sword out of its sheath. Kagome jerked her head back to hit her skull against Yura's nose. The move worked and Kagome fell below. Yura wiped the blood from her face as her nose quickly knitted itself back to normal.  
  
"You think such cheap tricks will work on an immortal being such as myself?" Yura said with a touch of anger. She lifted her sword and slowly licked the edge. "I'll have your head!"  
  
"It just worked, didn't it?" Kagome asked with a laugh as she dodged a swipe from Yura's sword.  
  
With a swift kick she hit Yura on the side but the blow did nothing as the youkai lifted her weapon and plunged the short sword into Kagome's stomach. She gave a short cry but quickly backed away so that the sword exited her body. Ignoring her wound Kagome launched herself at Yura again but this time the youkai used her comb to capture her with hair. The sharp string began to cut away at the delicate skin on Kagome's wrists and ankles when the hair sagged. Yura whirled around to see Sesshoumaru reaching his hand into the road blockade made of hair.  
  
"NO!!" She cried out as she sprinted towards him. She slammed into the ground, her face digging into the dirt as Kagome ruthlessly pressed her hand against Yura's head.  
  
"Hurry!!" Kagome yelled as Yura began to violently struggle from her grasp.  
  
Sesshoumaru pushed his hand further until his fingers felt something hard. Pushing himself deeper into the hair his hands grabbed the object and pulled it out. It was the red skull he had spotted while Yura had attacked Kagome. Without even thinking he dropped the skull to the ground and stepped on it with all of his strength. There was a wailing cry as the skull split into pieces and a strange wind began to blow the youkai away so that only her clothes were left. Somehow in the struggle Yura had managed to get a blow in and now Kagome's mouth felt uncomfortably puffy.  
  
"You alright human?" She asked while struggling to stand. Sesshoumaru looked down at her and frowned at the amount of blood seeping through the blue kimono.  
  
"Shouldn't you be dead?" He asked curiously as he watched her swing from side to side before regaining her balance. She looked down at her wound and gently pressed down at her stomach.  
  
"I'll live." She wheezed before passing out. He caught her before she hit the ground and put her into a cradle in his arms. Her blood smeared on his pristine white clothes and he gave a look of distaste to the bundle he held. If she could barely survive one youkai, how were they going to fight all the others? He shook his head while stepping over the fallen hair and began to trek down the road. His chance of surviving this world of monsters and magic looked slimmer than his chance of ever finding a female that didn't cause trouble.

* * *

"I didn't need any help, especially from more humans." She hissed at him as they walked. She had carefully distanced herself so that exactly ten feet separated them and was now walking faster in agitation. "Their weak medicines do nothing to my superior youkai blood."  
  
Sesshoumaru ignored her issued complaints and silently daydreamed of cars as another day of walking greeted them. At least the weather was still somewhat the same, if not just a touch cooler. A balmy breeze brought scents of the cool forest surrounding the countryside and serenading birds glided above. The morning was the kind of composed beauty that novels spoke of, perfect and full of promise. And yet, the tranquil atmosphere was starting to get on his nerves and he sent a wish to the gods above that he would one day return to modern Tokyo. It was too damned quiet here and he felt like he was the only person for hundreds of miles. The hanyou's voice shrilled in his ears and he gave a sigh, perhaps not quite so alone. She was still complaining of him bringing her to the neighboring village for help. Hopefully, if she was anything like Rin, she would soon shut her mouth after several more minutes of ignoring.  
  
One minute. Two minutes. Three Minutes.  
  
"-probably placed a curse on us while we were sleeping. I've never met a human who didn't kill a youkai after seeing-"  
  
He tried to block out the noise but a headache began to overpower him.  
  
"Are you even listening to me?" She demanded as she stood in front of him, her hands placed on her hips. Those blue eyes sparkled with annoyance in the gentle sunlight and he gave a sigh, wondering why they couldn't be a normal brown.  
  
"No." He said truthfully and stepped past her.  
  
"You're even worse than my sister." She loudly remarked as she walked alongside him. She abruptly froze and grabbed Sesshoumaru's arm, making him stop. There was a flash of fear in her eyes as dark clouds began to cover the sky, menacing in its darkness. The clouds completely covered the sky in an unnatural period of time and it was as shadowy as the night. "Crap." She whispered.  
  
Kagome pulled Sesshoumaru behind her and the man looked down at the short girl, was she trying to protect him? He who stood nearly a foot taller than her? He was about to comment on this when the air began to whisper. It wasn't the soft mumbling of the wind in the trees but a sinister sigh that came from all directions. A hazy fog sifted through the forest so that one by one, each tree disappeared till the whole world vanished around them.  
  
"Whatever you do, don't talk and leave everything to me. If something happens... run." She whispered to him as she began to slip off her kimono. She turned around and pressed it into his hands, looking up at him with begging eyes. "Wear this. I don't care if it's a female's clothing, it will protect you, so don't take it off!" She ordered sternly as he silently complied. Her kimono squeezed threateningly against his broad shoulders but after a second the material somehow adjusted itself to his body structure. He was beginning to feel ridiculous when the air's menacing moan faded away and the area around them fell quiet.  
  
"She's here."  
  
A figure suddenly stepped out from the fog, a woman who was nearly identical to Kagome. She held a sterner authoritarian air and had vacant brown eyes rather than Kagome's own unusual blue. Long snake like creatures were gliding around her in slow graceful movements, watching the two with careful eyes. The woman's face held absolutely no emotion and Sesshoumaru immediately felt something stirring at his senses as she came closer. More magic at work...  
  
"Stop." Kagome said, her voice clear and firm. "Don't come any closer."  
  
"Kagome, is that any way to treat your sister?" The woman's low voice crept out. It was so devoid of warmth that Sesshoumaru half expected icicles to start forming around them.  
  
"Half sister. And I give my respect to those who deserve it. What do you want Kikyo?" Kagome said.  
  
"Don't tell me you're screwing a human. Tsk tsk tsk, Kagome. You are so much like our mother." The woman said cruelly, a harsh smile stretching a thin mouth.  
  
"Shut up! Don't talk about mother that way!" Kagome snarled angrily. "State your reasons for being here and leave!"  
  
"He is handsome, I'll give you that." Kikyo completely ignored her younger sister and moved towards him. He raised a hand to prevent her from moving any closer and she pressed daringly close. "Oh ho, are you resisting me human?"  
  
"It doesn't take much to resist you." He said flatly.  
  
There was a quick glimmer of fury in her eyes that became rapidly masked by her indifference. She backed away but there was an invisible threat in her eyes. "So be it, I'll play with you later." In a swift movement Kikyo placed her hand in front of Kagome's right eye. Bolts of lightning-like lights flashed around Kikyo's hand as a small black orb steadily floated out. Kikyo snatched the black sphere and Kagome fell to the ground with loud gasps of pain. Sesshoumaru reached forward to grab her and gently held her up as she struggled to gain her breath.  
  
"What the hell did you do?!" She glowered as she pushed his hands away. Kikyo gave a smug look at her sister as she opened her palm.  
  
"Our dear departed mother left you a present and not me. And she did always dictate equality in our household, did she not?" She tightly gripped the ball and there was a crack as the orb broke under the pressure. "And I will receive my just rewards."  
  
Kikyo opened her hand again and blew the broken pieces to the ground. A portal sprang open as the pieces showered down and Kikyo gave a broad smile. With a wave, she stepped into the portal and disappeared.  
  
"Damn it," Kagome cursed. "You stay here while I go." Without waiting for a response she jumped into the spinning portal and followed her sister.

* * *

I'm guessing that a few of you guys are wondering how similar to Inuyasha this story will be. I might stick to the plot when it comes to encountering people, but I'm going to add in my own things, like exactly where Kikyo and Kagome end up going. Anyways, I hope you guys are enjoying this weird plot and I'm still hoping that I'm not copying form somebody else. Don't forget to review!!!!!! 

p.s. if the layout looks weird, eh, well, its ff.net's new thing i guess, its kinda weird and i don't have time to work it over in my head...  
  
Strata stargazer: looks around nervously am I losing my originality? Gah, I hope not! I'm trying to keep this story as original as possible cuz I hate reading the same plotlines in stories again and again with the same stuff happening. I already left some things out (like sess not going back to the future). Was this chapter ok???  
  
SilentDark: nah, its just a jaken look alike. Lol, kagome and inuyasha's past will be revealed in later chapters, for now I'm just setting up kagome and sesshoumaru's relationship  
  
Duke of spades: of course kagome will have a love interest, I already got a few love triangles in mind, and I will have all the main characters playing a part in this fic, of course their roles will be reversed, I just don't specifically know how  
  
Pippin-kun: thank you!! I'm glad you thought of it like that! well, I had to change Kagome's character cuz of how she was forced to grow up, she'll share a few similar traits with inuyasha but I'm gonna make her mature and be more like the kagome she is in the anime. As for the sango and miroku role, I'm still debating myself over which person should be the lecher... 


	4. The Frog Lord

Author's Notes: Uh....I finally updated?

Chapter Four: The Frog Lord

* * *

It was beautiful... the kind of beautiful that stole your breath away. She could feel her mother's love etched in every stone that created this place and it gave her the urge to embrace herself in happiness. Cream marble lined every corner of the immense hallway but the stone was warm to the feet, inviting the visitor to leisurely walk towards an unknown destination. Bright light filtered down from a windowless ceiling arched so high that it gave the illusion that there was no end. There were stately columns made of the same creamy marble lined the walls and marked the path that she was to take. Her sister had already disappeared and she suddenly felt so alone in the vastness of the hall. Someone dropped behind her and she whirled around to see who it was.

"Sesshoumaru??" She eased her guard and put her hands on her hips. "I _thought_ I told you to stay put."

He only gave a casual shrug of his shoulders and started to walk down the hallway, his arrogance visible in every step. She allowed herself to glower for a few seconds, then gave up and found herself following him with no complaint. The only sound was the gentle patter of their feet as the hallway appeared to go on into eternity. Then suddenly, the hallway ended short before a pair of sullen black doors that Kagome could have sworn wasn't there a second ago. An air of malevolence stained the area around it and they both stopped a few feet away. The unadorned door seemed out of place in the opulence of the hallway, but age was written in the worn surface. She cautiously took a step further and held her hands out, feeling the aura that pulsed in warning as she drew closer.

"What are you doing?" He asked as he took a step closer as well, not to be outdone by a girl.

"Just," She pushed her hands further and the aura began to move away from her body. "Testing a theory."

He jerked away and took two steps away from the door, batting at an invisible foe.

"What is this?" He growled as he stumbled back. The aura batted playfully at his soul, pushing him further and further away from the doors.

"It doesn't recognize your blood so don't force yourself in." A small voice called out.

The two whirled around but could see nobody behind them.

"Over here!" the voice called out again. Kagome peered close to see a small bug jumping up and down on Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

"Myouga???" She said.

"It is I, Kagome-san! It has been many years since I've seen you awake." He commented.

"Myouga, what is Kikyo up to?" Kagome asked but the youkai was preoccupied sucking on Sesshoumaru's blood.

"Oh, delicious, very delicious for a human. You taste of pride and power, mortal." Myouga said before Sesshoumaru slapped a hand on his neck, squishing the youkai. "Hey! That's no way to treat an old friend."

"You're not my old friend." Sesshoumaru remarked as the bug youkai popped back into normal shape.

"I believe your sister is after the Tetsusaiga, you should hurry and stop her, I'll wait here and guard the door." Myouga jumped down from Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

"Running away again, eh?" Kagome said but Myouga had already vanished. She opened the black doors enough to let her in. "Don't come after me Sesshoumaru, not if you want to get hurt."

She disappeared and he muttered a curse, a habit he rarely took part in. There was no way she was going in there without him. Who else was going to get him out of this strange palace? He took a step forward, centering his ki into moving forward. The aura's batting grew more forceful but he gritted his teeth and move towards the doors a step at a time, the aura pressing so tight that he felt like he could barely breathe. Then the aura gave up and disappeared, leaving him in front of the doors. With a smirk towards Kagome's warning he pulled the surprisingly heavy door open further and stepped inside.

It was a lush forest inside, the air so clean that he felt himself breathing stronger and deeper, his lungs anxious to get more of that pure oxygen. There was no sign of a room, only a stunning sapphire sky that was a deeper blue than he had ever seen, the same color as Kagome's eyes and trees perfect in every leaf. Even the flowers dotting the forest were perfect in color and shape. An explosion rocked the forest and he looked up to see a pillar of brilliant white light, a beacon of pure magic. His senses ached to be near that alluring magic and his feet moved on its own, hurrying to that pillar.

The forest suddenly disappeared to reveal an immense clearing of barren land. A clumsy arrangement of stones were circling around a tall statue of clear glass with Kikyo raising her hands up, a glowing fire of white magic surrounding her pale hands. The pillar of her magic had engulfed the statue of a woman and he felt the air pressure around him tighten.

"Stop it! Stop doing that to my mother!!!" Kagome shouted as she ran towards Kikyo, her white clothes smudged with dirt. A line of blood was streaming down from her cheek but she appeared to feel no pain as she desperately ran to her sister. A barrier sprang up as Kagome neared, flinging the hanyou nearly twenty feet away. Without knowing it, Sesshoumaru had run to her side, helping the girl up.

"We have to stop her." She told him urgently as she wiped the blood on her cheek with her sleeves. She ran again to her sister and stopped before the barrier, hitting it for all she was worth. Kikyo appeared to notice nothing and only concentrated in her magic. With a look of frustration, Kikyo stopped her magic and dropped her hands in irritation. She turned to look at her sister, who was still furiously banging on the barrier.

"Sister dear, you should know by now that you can never get through my barriers." She said, exasperated. Sesshoumaru had to silently agree, seeing as how Kagome was making no progress in getting to her sister. But he had to give the girl some respect in her persistence.

"Never-say-never." Kagome stated as she paused in her banging. "You are defiling mother's grave, you don't even belong here!"

"Ah, I'm afraid you're wrong, sister dear. Mother left you something very special, something that I believe I am more qualified to have than a half breed like you. But it appears that mother has put another obstacle in my way of getting it." Kikyo disappeared from where she was only to appear right in front of Sesshoumaru, her hand poised right by the artery in his neck. He felt her clawed hands gently stroking his neck and he gave a look of disgust down at Kikyo. "Which is why I am asking you to get it for me, or else I'll tear this human's throat out before your very eyes. Now, just walk over to mother's statue and get the sword inside."

Kagome's eyes glittered in fury and Sesshoumaru could see that she was on the edge of losing control, but she stiffly walked over to the statue.

"I don't know how to get it out." She said gruffly.

Kikyo rolled her eyes. "Reach your hand in, grab the sword, and pull it out."

Sesshoumaru looked over to see Kagome placing her hand on the statue, a look of sorrow passing through her eyes as she pushed her body weight into the statue. Her hand slipped through the stone and suddenly, he could see the sword that Kikyo was talking about. It was an aged katana that gave warning to an even rustier looking sword inside the beaten scabbard.

"Well well well, so that's what the scrolls spoke of." Kikyo whispered to herself as Kagome walked over to them with a furious scowl on her face. She handed the sword to her sister.

"Now let him go." She demanded.

Kikyo shoved him into Kagome and snatched the sword from the hanyou's hands but gave a screech as the weapon came in contact with her skin. Lightning bolts of incredibly potent magic sprang from the sword to Kikyo, making her drop the weapon to the ground. Kikyo's face grew whiter and whiter in rage and her eyes bled into a dangerous crimson. She let out a piercing howl towards the sky and her white magic began to surround her, forming a vortex that grew larger and larger. Kagome grabbed his hand and the sword and began to run back into the forest. He didn't ask any questions and just let the girl pull him back towards the door. The earth was rumbling with Kikyo's anger and trees were becoming uprooted, crashing around them. The two spotted the door and sprinted toward it, slipping through and slamming it shut. Sesshoumaru waited until he had his breath back to finally speak.

"Is she always like that?" He asked her.

"Yes, always." She said as she looked down at the sword in her hand. She pulled the blade out to show a blunt edged sword with stains of rust everywhere on the dull metal.

"It doesn't look as impressive as Kikyo made it out to be." He commented as he slipped off her kimono. He threw it at her and she caught it with one hand.

"Well, if she says it's special, then I'm keeping it, since she can't touch it anyways." Kagome said as the two began walking back to the portal. She looked down at her dirtied white clothes and gave a sigh. She tucked the sword through the sash that held her pants up and pulled on the kimono, the obi long forgotten. "Let's go back before she snaps out of her temper."

Sesshoumaru gave a nod and was about to jump through when Kagome grabbed his hand. She gave a smile and pulled him into the portal with her, her grip never faltering for a second.

* * *

Her blue eyes were narrowed in impatience and her lips were in a pout. She crossed her arms to emphasize her displeasure but nothing could budge him from what he was going to do. She began to pace back and forth in front of the well, her sword bumping against her leg.

"Do you have to?" She implored desperately. "We have no time to waste in searching for the Shikon shards that YOU broke!"

"I didn't break them, that frog youkai did. And I need to check on my sister." He said sternly. He matched her scowl with a look of coolness. He didn't wait for her answer and jumped down the well, hoping that it would take him back to his time. That same light of magic surrounded him and when he softly landed, he looked up to see the frantic faces of Rin and Jaken.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!!!" They both cried out.

"I'm home." He said, unsure of himself.

They released a rope ladder for him to climb up and Rin threw herself into his arms while Jaken threw himself at his feet. A warm bath, a hot modern meal, and his usual clothing of black pants and a black turtleneck had him feeling like he had never left. But that unwanted sense of responsibility was still there whenever he saw the color blue inside his house. He had silenced Jaken and Rin's endless stream of questions with a strict answer of that they would never understand and they hadn't asked a question since. Sounds of passing cars and the eternal glow of streetlights kept him up all night and it was only when dawn came that he was finally able to relax, seeing that the picture of the rising sun was the same as the sunrises in the past.

His eyes somehow looked over to the well house and he half expected Kagome to saunter through the doors with that look of annoyance she always had. Gods, who would have thought that cracking the Shikon would give him a burden of responsibility. He shook himself out of a very un-Sesshoumaru like daze and gathered his things to go to college, anxious to make up all his missed classes. But the thought of the past persisted even when he was catching up on work. And it continued to persist through lunch and dinner. He was leaning back on his chair when Rin unexpectedly hugged his arm. She looked up at him with worried eyes.

"Sesshoumaru-sama looks like he has unfinished work to do. Rin thinks he should do whatever it is he needs to do and then look happy again, neh?" She said with the innocent nature of a child. He patted her head and nodded at her, watching her face melt into happiness. He pulled out an old backpack and began throwing things he would need in the past. After looking in the kitchen for a second, he added a few bags of Rin's favorite snacks. He had almost considered wearing his own clothes but then wore the clothes Inuyasha had given him instead. He was just finishing his instructions and threats to Jaken when the shoji door slammed open. Kagome stood in the doorway with her trademark look of annoyance.

"Two days! I gave you two days Sesshoumaru." She said.

"Hold your tongue, you rude girl!" Jaken scolded her, waving his wooden cane at her. "You do not talk to Sesshoumaru-sama this way! And what are you doing intruding in our house?"

"Jaken." He said and Jaken backed down and left the room, grumbling to himself.

"Let's go." Kagome said and he nodded, hoisting his backpack When they were back through the well, Kagome's look of annoyance left her face. "I don't like your time very much. There's too many bad smells."

"We call it pollution." He said flatly as she led him back toward the village. The villagers stopped and stared again, some of them even praying to the gods. Inuyasha was talking to a group of men and he gave a nod of his head to Sesshoumaru. To Kagome, he gave a strange look and went back to talking to the men. Sesshoumaru looked at the hanyou's face to see her expression. She had stopped her walking for a second, gazing at the silver haired miko with a look torn between sadness and regret. Then the look was wiped off her face and her walking grew faster. He didn't say anything, only wondering what had really happened between the two that had resulted in such remorse and grief.

* * *

They had been walking on the lone road for several days, coming across only harmless youkai that looked at the two in curiosity. They were resting on a large boulder when a clumsy young man with a white monkey on his shoulder walked by. The two silently watched as the man carelessly walk off a small cliff. He fell with a large cloud of dust and was sprawled underneath a small cliff when the two travelers looked to see if he was alright. His clothes were dusty and his hat was tipped over to hide his face. He looked up and gave a carefree grin while pulling himself up, his monkey hopping back onto his shoulder.

"Hello fellow travelers, it's good to see other people on the road, especially towards danger." He said happily while brushing the dirt off his clothes. "Might you happen to have victuals on you?" He asked hopefully.

Kagome nudged Sesshoumaru and he rummaged through his backpack, throwing a small bag of chips to the man with a sigh. The man and the monkey devoured the chips like ravenous animals. When he finished licking the insides of the bag he daintily wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Wonderful tasting food, is it foreign? I've never had anything like that in my life. Oh, forgive my manners, I never introduced myself, I am Nobunaga."

Sesshoumaru felt his mouth fall in complete astonishment. THE Nobunaga? One of the most famous figures in Japanese history?

"Nobunaga Omari." The man said proudly and then pointed to the white monkey. "And this is my monkey."

Sesshoumaru promptly closed his mouth, glad he hadn't made a fool of himself and asked Nobunaga of his tactics in battle.

"What do you mean by danger?" Kagome asked curiously.

"Ah-um," He stammered. "There has been reports of a lord who orders all the maidens of a village to his castle, but the maidens are never seen again. Some whisper of possession and youkai work."

"We'll accompany you." Kagome said quickly.

"The more the merrier!" Nobunaga exclaimed and stood up to lead the way.

"Nobunaga-"Kagome called out to warn him but it was too late as he fell off the same cliff he had fallen from earlier.

"Idiot." Sesshoumaru muttered as Nobunaga uttered apologies for his clumsiness.

After much apologizing, the man finally led them to the village half a day's walk away. A gloomy atmosphere pervaded the village and mothers kept walking out of their houses and looking at the far off castle in worry. Upon asking, several men pointed fingers toward the castle and gave a shudder when the travelers began to anxiously walk towards the castle. When the three reached the gates, only silence greeted them. Kagome's face grew grave as her ears swiveled to listen for any signs of life while her nose sniffed around.

"It smells of death there." She said. "Be careful when we go in."

"But the gates are locked." Nobunaga said as he pushed at the sturdy gates. Kagome pushed him aside and gave a hard kick at the doors. The wood split apart with a crack and she pulled off the logs to create a big enough opening for the three of them.

"I'm not a hanyou for nothing." She remarked.

"Oh! You're a youkai!" Nobunaga exclaimed as he stumbled through the opening.

"Ssh." She said as they came upon a very empty and quiet courtyard. There were no signs of life as they strayed further in, entering the castle. The whole place made the hairs on the back of Sesshoumaru's neck rise in danger and he kept his senses alert for anything. They warily checked behind every door but found nobody in them. They were getting deeper into the castle when they same upon a bare room with an old woman laying still. Kagome sniffed the air and nodded her head, there was nothing dangerous about this woman. They crept closer when Nobunaga gave a cry and ran to the woman, grasping her hand with tears in his eyes.

"My princess!" He cried out. "I've finally found you! But you've grown so old!" He bawled.

Kagome pointed off to the side. "Isn't that your princess?" She pointed to a youthful woman sleeping on a futon. Nobunaga dropped the sleeping old woman with a thud and rushed to his princess with renewed tears in his eyes.

"But she's sleeping!" He said in dismay.

"I'll wake her up!" A familiar tiny voice called out. Myouga jumped to the princess's neck and began sucking on her blood.

"Nobunaga?" The princess whispered as she slapped her neck and sat up. "What are you doing here?"

"Myouga, back from running away?" Kagome asked flatly.

"Oh, Princess Tsuyu, I heard of the lord's demand for maidens and their disappearances so I grew worried of your presence here." Nobunaga said.

"I admit, my lord has been acting odd lately. He always wears bandages but when I ask if I could heal him he denies me immediately. I think he is very ill and needs your help, for he won't take mine!" Princess Tsuyu begged.

"A-anything for the Princess Tsuyu." Nobunaga declared bravely and he quickly stood up. "Come, comrades, we must aid the lord."

As of on cue, the lord appeared, swathed in bandages as the princess had said. But he had a strangely irregular shaped head and body. Kagome whipped out the sword on her back and faced the lord.

"There's something very wrong about the lord of the castle." Kagome remarked as the lord attacked her with a roar. She fended off his blows with her sword but the rusty katana was doing nothing to help her other than block. With a war cry, the lord blew out a stream of poisonous gas and Kagome fell to the floor just as the poison flew over her head. With a war cry of her own, Kagome sliced the lord's bandages off, revealing a horrible frog face. The princess gave a gasp and fainted into Nobunaga's arms.

"I knew it, a possession by a youkai." Kagome said with a knowing grin. "Sesshoumaru, do you see any shards on him?"

Sesshoumaru concentrated his sight on the possessed lord to see a familiar purple glimmer. "It's on his forehead."

"That's all I need." Kagome said as she rushed to the lord as he heaved another breath for poisoned. The frog youkai knocked her aside with one hand, making her crash through a wall., and knocked Nobunaga aside to take the princess and run away. "Stupid coward." Kagome sputtered as she struggled to stand up. She tightened her hold on Tetsusaiga and ran after the youkai. "Come back, you idiot!"

Sesshoumaru stayed behind to look after Nobunaga, who had a long slash down his leg from the youkai. The man looked glumly down at his injury.

"Please, go help Kagome-san save the princess. I'll come when I can, right now, the princess's safety means more to me. Please go." Nobunaga said as he tore his shirt into bandage strips. Sesshoumaru took off in a light run, hoping he was going the right direction. He heard crashes in the near distance and followed the sound. The room was silent when he walked in and he took a step back in surprise. The large room was filled with frog eggs holding all the missing maidens from the village. And the newest one held the princess Tsuyu. The frog youkai was on the ground with several large bumps on his head and a gash on his shoulder.

"Hahaha, you think these injuries can stop me, you puny hanyou?" The frog said. "Come to me souls!!!" He called out and glowing lights from several eggs flew down and into the frog's body, healing every injury to perfection.

"Cheater." She spat out as she raised her sword once more.

"No, this is cheating." The frog said as he let out another stream of poison, this time towards Sesshoumaru, and behind him, a limping Nobunaga.

"No!" Kagome yelled as she rushed towards the two. She waved her sword down on the stream and was stunned to see not her rusty old sword but an immense blade that gleamed with a precise beauty. "W-wow."

"That's Tetsusaiga, the sword that can cut down a hundred youkai with one swing." Myouga commented on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "It is the inheritance your mother gave you."

"How come it wasn't like this before?" Kagome asked as she jumped away from the frog's quick arms.

"The Tetsusaiga's true powers emerge when the holder is protecting someone. You weren't protecting back then, you were just swinging the sword around like a fool." Myouga stated.

"And you could have told me this when?" Kagome said as she dodged another blow. She ran out into the hallway, hoping to get the frog away from his source of energy. Meanwhile, Nobunaga used a small dagger to cut open the egg sac that held Princess Tsuyu.

"Nobunaga?"

"Tsuyu-hime."

"Nobunaga."

"Tsuyu-hime." Nobunaga looked at her with glittering eyes, anticipating what was coming next.

"Nobunaga...thank you for saving me." She said. "Please help my lord!"

Nobunaga dropped his head in disappointment, his forehead displaying a sweatdrop.

"Oy! Is there some easy way to get rid of this youkai without hurting the lord?!" Kagome called out from the hallway.

"Fire works well." Myouga said.

"Fire...fire." Sesshoumaru delved through his bag and took out a bottle of fine wine. He had hoped to save this for a time when Kagome's antics was too much for him, but now would have to do. He took out a lighter and the wine and ran out into the hall. Kagome was in the air, reading to slice the frog in half, in addition to the lord.

"Sit!"

WHAM

He quickly filled his mouth with wine, clicked on the lighter, and let loose a spray of alcohol, creating an enormous flame. The frog youkai cried out and released it's hold on the lord.

"Finish it off." Sesshoumaru told Kagome, who sliced the floating youkai in half with her sword. The youkai disappeared with a yowl and a tiny shard of Shikon dropped to the ground. He picked it up and dropped it into the small plastic bottle he had bought in his time. Princess Tsuyu appeared out of the room with Nobunaga right behind.

"My lord!" She said as she dashed to the man on the ground. Nobunaga gave a weak grin at the couple and shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't think he was in love with the princess, do you?" Kagome whispered to Sesshoumaru.

"Idiot." He muttered.

* * *

Author's Note: Eeee, don't be mad, I swear I have good reasons as to why I haven't updated in checks calendar wow, months? Has it really been that long? Oops....

Fire Kitsune Goddess: Yay! I wanted this plot to be really unique, since I haven't read any stories in which the roles are reversed. And no worries, this will be a sess/kag

Neko-chan n Inu-sama: eh, considering how late this update is, I'm guessing you'll be torturing me till beyond the end of time?

Shampoo ul copt: I think I left a note in the first chapter in that mikos in this story are male and have very long lifespans. I'm glad to hear so many people are telling me this is story is different! Thanks guys!


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